Just in case anyone was wondering, going two weeks on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet is HARD! You pretty much can’t have any sugar, any breads or pastas, any fruit, or any starchy vegetables.

I posted before about how one of my New Year’s goals for 2012 is to break my sugar/carb addiction and how I used Phase 1 of the South Beach diet to jump-start it! I’m very glad I did it, but I’m definitely thankful to be out of phase 1.

I lost around 10 pounds (my first goal is to lose 30 pounds so I was excited to see that) and my jeans feel a ton looser (although I haven’t completely dropped down a size yet).

I know lots of you guys have let me know that you are also going through South Beach, or you are about to start, so I wanted to share with you some of the things that I’ve found helpful in making it through Phase 1.

Garbanzo Beans are your friend.

I have found my new favorite food! Okay, maybe not my FAVORITE food, but Garbanzo beans are a new staple in our house. Especially Garbanzo Bean Flour!

In a moment of weakness during week 1 while shopping at our local Sunflower Farmers Market I grabbed a (fairly tiny) bag of Garbanzo Bean Flour for around $3.25. Anything with the word “flour” in it sounded amazing and the Garbanzo Bean Flour was the least expensive of the flours that I could have.

I used the Garbanzo Bean flour to make homemade Falafels and OH MY… seriously one of the best things I’ve eaten! (Okay, maybe my judgement is a little clouded since I haven’t had ANYTHING sweet in 3 weeks, but it sure tastes heavenly when you’re on Phase 1 of South Beach!) I’ll be sure to post the recipe and pictures within the next couple of days!

You can also use the flour to make Hummus, as well as a filler for hamburgers (I always put in some type of “filler” like oatmeal or panko bread crumbs to make it go a little farther). And after my oldest daughter ate the burgers she said “Mom, these are the best hamburger patties EVER!” Yep, garbanzo bean flour was my secret ingredient.

But instead of buying the tiny bag for $3.25, you can buy a bag of dried Garbanzo Beans and grind it into flour yourself using a strong blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec) or a food processor.

Drink LOTS of water.

I was lamenting on Facebook about how much I was craving carbs during the beginning of Phase 1 and one of y’all suggested for me to drink a big glass of water every time I had a carb craving. I’ve been doing that and it DEFINITELY helps!

Also, in order to help myself to drink more water, I’ve been putting a little lemon juice and stevia in my water and it has really helped with my desire to drink more. I have no idea why, but it’s worth a shot!

Use lots of spices.

While your diet is pretty restricted on Phase 1, you can pretty much use as much and as many spices as you would like! The food on its own can be pretty bland and spices really do make all the difference in the world. I don’t think I ate much of anything without AT LEAST garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and a little salt. Those pretty much go with everything so you can just add on from there.

South Beach recipe sites like Kalyn’s Kitchen are a HUGE resource for finding great-tasting phase 1 (and beyond) recipes. Kalyn’s South Beach recipes are full of flavor and have amazing reviews from pretty much everyone who comments on her site! And right now she is actually doing a whole month of awesome Phase 1 recipes!

Make food in advance.

As much as you can, chop and cook foods in advance. It’s so much easier to have a grilled chicken salad for lunch when the lettuce is already washed, the veggies are already cut, and the chicken is already cooked! Just have a big grilling day the Saturday or Sunday before you start and grill several chicken breasts, or steaks (mmm… steak salads are my fav!) so that you have salad meat on hand.

I also love this idea (and of course, I found it on Pinterest) for making salads in mason jars at the beginning of the week that way you can just grab it from the fridge already prepared!

Look at it as a lifestyle change instead of a “diet”.

This is probably the hardest thing to do, but, in my opinion, it has to be done for South Beach to be successful. We made this mentality change the first time we did South Beach back in 2005. We cut out refined sugar, switched to 100% whole wheat everything, and increased our protein consumption…. FOR LIFE! South Beach diet isn’t something that you do for a while and then go back to the way things were. It’s a complete lifestyle change. And I promise that it’s worth it! Not only for weight-loss but for overall health too.

So why am I doing this again in 2012? Two reasons: 1) I have pretty miserable pregnancies and am pretty sedentary during the last trimester from back pain and 2) I didn’t limit my intake of food to make up for that. So I ended up gaining around 60 pounds during my last pregnancy and only had lost around 30 when I start South Beach (now I’ve lost 40!!)

Be prepared to learn more about yourself.

As I’ve added a few more carbs into my diet these past few days (I started Phase 2 this past Sunday) I’ve noticed something. Whenever I have wheat, my stomach hurts. {sigh}

I still want to test it out some more, but I’m preparing myself for at least having a Gluten sensitivity.

I honestly never imagined that I would be someone on a gluten-free diet, but with the way things are going it looks like I might have to be. And it could also be a reason why I have had such trouble losing weight this past year even while eating healthier foods.

I would LOVE some advice from any of you guys who are currently gluten-free or have someone in your family who is. Feel free to leave any links to websites that you think are helpful in the comments below!

Find a weight loss community.

I’ve been posting my progress on the Surviving The Stores Facebook page and it has really helped out a ton to have such a supportive community behind me! Your advice and encouragements have been AWESOME and have definitely helped me get through the past couple of weeks!

One of the websites/apps that you guys recommended is one called My Fitness Pal. I actually just signed up today and I am BLOWN AWAY. Seriously, it is super easy and tracks EVERYTHING for you. I can only imagine how much less I will be tempted by things knowing that I will have to enter exactly what I ate onto my profile!

And if I can give just one piece of advice it’s to (cue 80s music) DON’T STOP BELIEVING that you can do it. Really, you CAN. It seems impossible, and yes, the first several days are REALLY hard. But it’s totally worth it.

Now, I’m not saying that week 3 is a piece of cake. Yes, you can slowly start adding more carbs into your diet, but in some ways it really does take a lot more self-control than Phase 1 because on Phase 1 you could pretty much eat as much as you wanted of all of the foods that were “approved”. On Phase 2 you can eat a bigger variety, but you really have to LIMIT how much of it to eat on your own.

For those of you who have done South Beach before (or are doing it now), what suggestions do you have for those who are thinking about it, or are in the trenches right now?

Photo Credit: nkzs

This post is part of the Survival Tip Tuesday series! Be sure to check out more Survival Tip Tuesday articles!

This post is also linked up to: Monday Mania, Show It Off Monday, Fat Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, and Real Food Wednesday. Be sure to visit all of these sites for more inspiring ideas!